Ad Finem
by SongoftheWolf
Summary: Itex's latest assasin fails in his mission...by falling in love. Will he and the Flock make it through the coming war? A/N: I really can't do a decent summary, and the story is actually pretty good. PLEASE READ!
1. Chapter 1

**I dunno, just a story I thought of. Reviews would be AWESOME, 'cause I'm not sure if anyone will like this. This is in response to my poll question, whether or not I should write this. Rated T for now…may be M later. Just to warn you.**

The sound of footsteps and the swish of clothing in the hall woke me up. I opened my eyes, momentarily blinded by the sharp bright lights. After the initial shock, I could see everything, each individual hole in the paneling of the ceiling, the fibers of the panels, and the dust mites dwelling within them. The light reflected off of the white concrete walls of my room. I sat up on my bed, which was more of a cot than anything. I didn't mind. I stretched my ebony black wings out as far as they could go, which wasn't very far in this small room. I slowly got up and stretched, making my way towards my computer.

My room was not elaborate, more like a cell. I was no prisoner here. In fact, I was treated nearly as good as royalty. I preferred the simplicity of the room; it didn't reveal anything about its occupant, it was unfriendly, it was cold.

Just like me.

Against one wall, in a corner, stood my bed. The opposite corner housed a simple wooden desk with a computer. The corner across from my bed held a door, leading to my bathroom. The last corner held the door to the rest of the training facility, one that had been built just for me.

As I was booting up the computer, timid knocking at the door instantly grabbed my attention. "Come in," I called. A scared looking scientist hurried in, wringing his hands, and glancing around nervously. I rolled my eyes. You'd think, after being here 17 years, that they would not be so afraid of me. Oh well, I sort of liked their fear.

"Are you ready, sir?" the man asked in a quiet, timid voice.

Sir? Huh, I liked the title. I did not show any emotion as I agreed. My computer finally turned on, showing me for the last time my purpose here. Seven faces lined the screen, seven targets. Three male, three female, and one dog. I knew just about everything about them, when they had escaped from the school with the traitor, Jeb. When they had come back to save the youngest one, the small girl. When they had lived with one of ours in Virginia. When they had seemed to destroy Itex, when its most important branch was still at large.

I am Sharva. I am a Destroyer. I was created as the world's greatest assassin. My target now is the six renegades, and the dog; known to themselves as the Flock. I will bring back Itex, with them out of the way. I have been training since I could walk. Training for seventeen years has prepared me for this day, the day I set out on my mission. I will succeed when so many have failed. The Erasers, Omega, and the Flyboys were all failures. I will succeed.

I will take down the flock.

**PLEASE REVIEW!! I don't know if I will continue with this story if I do not get many reviews. I would like it, if you had read this story, to please take five minutes to write a review. By the way, Sharva means Destroyer. Ad Finem loosely means the end in Latin. Took me a few days to find the names! I will probably write two more chapters before I decide to keep going or stop the story. REVIEW PEOPLE!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, Chapter 2. I must finish this, or my friend will get an angry mob together to hunt me down. REVIEW, or only she gets to read it. I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own Sharva, the concept of a destroyer, and the plot. I also do not own any of the information about the swords, Sword Buyers does. Enjoy!**

I walked down the concrete hall with one of the men. I knew every inch of this place. I had been here since I had been created. There had been no other experiments here, just those who served as part of my training. With no others, I focused better on training, not focusing on friends I may have made. In my opinion, if the renegade Flock had been separated from each other, they would have turned out as they were meant to.

We stopped at the armory. I would choose my weapons for the mission now. I had spent a lot of time thinking about which to take, which would be the most useful without slowing me down. I had made my decisions. I would take just one firearm. A quiet one, with a silencer. The majority of my weapons would consist of swords.

Sword fighting is where I excel the most. Whipping around an opponent with a blade in hand is exhilarating; more so than just hiding somewhere, aiming, and pulling a trigger. I would choose two Asian swords, a double edged Chinese long sword, know as a _Jian, _and the Japanese _Katana,_ a four foot long, slightly curved with a single edge long blade. I would also choose a Claymore and a Flamberge, medieval style swords, long and deadly. I strapped the two Asian swords to my back along with the rifle, and the two medieval around my waist.

We then stopped at the training arena. It was here I first learned how to fight. Extra experiments, Erasers, other human/avian hybrids, and more had all met their end here at my hands. I relished a fight. I was going to practice here for a few minutes before I had to leave. Someone had set up the training dummies. I started out by stretching, then going through each sword maneuver slowly, but getting faster. Whipping round and round, the swords whirling in each of my hands, I made quick work of the dummies in the room. I did not want to fly now; I needed to conserve most of my energy. I could get height on my attacks by throwing my weight where I wanted to. I started to slow down, not wanting huge cramps when I was on my mission. The training session took all of 15 minutes. All the while, the guy was standing outside the door. I could hear him breathing heavily. I could feel his fear of me. Funny. I walked out, and he jumped a few inches.

Without a word, we walked towards the control center, where I would be briefed for the last time. The director, a tall, blonde scientist with striking green eyes, met us at the door. I was taller than him. I had grown to 7' 2", one of the tallest successful experiments. The director spoke the first words since the spineless man in my room.

"Sharva! Good to see you!" As if I'd be anywhere else. I snorted to myself. These people went out of their way to "please" me. They had underestimated me from the start.

"The renegades have been spotted on the island of Madagascar. They are heavily guarded, as they are doing a show for the prevention of global warming. Our insiders say that they are getting sick of being cooped up, and are thinking about leaving. They have been successfully tracked, and will be easy to follow."

Good. At least they did something right. Even if they hadn't been tracked, they would be easy to follow. I was given a leather knapsack with a special laptop, provisions, and other tools to aid my mission. No one said anything, but I could feel the fear radiating off of them in waves, even from the director. There were no 'good lucks' there were no 'have a safe trips', just one speech from the director.

"Sharva, do not fail. You are Itex's last chance to come back. With you, we can restart everything, and make the world into our image. Fail, and we will be forced into extinction. It all rests on you."

Like I hadn't heard that since…forever. The speech was getting old. And taking down the flock would just be one segment of my mission to bring back Itex. I would take out all of the world's leaders, starting with the most influential countries, replacing them with Itex employees. The weaker countries would have to surrender, causing Itex to be in control. What would I get? Just a commemoration that I had brought them there, just recognition, and a job as an assassin, taking out those who did not like the new way. Ha! They took me for a fool. They took me for one of their easily manipulated experiments, like I believed that just recognition was enough. I had my own plans, concerning myself as the new world ruler. The good thing: they knew nothing. I had a notorious poker face they knew nothing about. Better to keep it that way.

Someone opened a door to the outside, signaling that it was time to go. It opened to a sharp drop. The building was located in the Ural Mountains. Easy to hide in. I walked over to the door, stepped out, and dropped.

I heard gasps above me as I spiraled toward the ground. Was their precious key to the future committing suicide. I had wanted to give them a jolt of fear. 50 feet from the ground, I spread my 21' jet black wings, and took an updraft toward the sky. I left the remnants of Itex behind, putting my ambitions in the back of my mind. I had a more important mission to complete. I headed south, towards my targets.

Towards the start of my reign.

**What did you think?! Good, Bad, Average? Yes, I have a fascination with swords. Deal with it. REVIEW!!! And FullMoonBallad, no mobs, please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3!!! I don't write much during the week, so I'll have more on weekends. Bear with me, it will get better. I am open to flames, and other ideas too. I sort of have a plot, but not anything solid. And, this is just a 'filler' chapter, so nothing much happens except for at the end. AAAAND, I sort of changed my mind about the plot, so this is going to be a Romance/Drama story. Enjoy and review!**

I flew over the mountains, not noticing the scenery. I had been out here many times, learning to control my enhanced senses. My eyesight allows me to see everything for 50 miles, yet I can focus on small things up close. My sense of smell is exceptional, comparable to a bloodhound. I can follow a trail just as easily. My hearing is no different, akin to a dolphin's. All of this can be distracting, but I can ignore it and focus on what I need to.

One of my best senses is one that is usually not natural to others. They called it the sixth sense. I can feel people's emotions, locations, and anticipate their movements before they happen. It's sort of hard to explain. I can feel emotions, like sad, happy, mad, like that. Once I get a feel for a person's emotions, I can find them anywhere in the world. I don't know how, I just can. Same thing with anticipating movements. Once I can identify a person by their emotions, I can just know how and when they will move; whether it be in a fight or just the next road they will turn onto. Again, I don't know how it happened, and neither does Itex. But, then again, the less they know the better.

I had not been in contact with the targets, but I knew exactly where I was going. Even with my powerful wings shooting me along at a comfortable cruising speed of 90 MPH, I needed something to pass the time. Reviewing information about my targets would keep me on track.

I would have to take down the one called Max first. She would fight the most. She can fly up to 250 miles per hour, which is no match for me, as I can do 300 MPH. Fang would be next, as he was the next strongest. Angel would be third, as she can read minds and influence them. I had been specially trained to close my mind. There had been a few other mutants that had demonstrated this trait, and I was pitted against them. My record for closing my mind while thinking of other things at the same time is a day and a half. Nudge would be next. She is the next strongest after Fang. The one they call the Gasman or Gazzy would be fifth, as he has his own special powers. Iggy would be second to last, as he is blind, but can see against white, and feel colors. Optimal attack times would be after dark. Total, the dog, would be last, as he did not pose much of a threat besides an annoying pre-fight warning.

This would be easy.

********

I was almost to Madagascar a few hours later. Before crossing the ocean, I took out my laptop and looked at the location of the flock. One of Itex's employees had successfully planted a tracer chip in the fur of the dog while pretending to be a fan. I looked at the tracer program on the computer. Hmm. They were in North America. They must have left the conference early. It looks like they went back to their old home in the Rocky Mountains. At least, that's what it looks like from the program. I would take a short two-hour break here and then make the trek across the ocean.

********

I had arrived. They were in a cave near the site of their old home. It had been destroyed. I landed softly on the top of the cave, but I could hear every word spoken inside as if I were right next to them.

"Ugh, I was so sick of that conference! People saying just how cute I was for a little boy, rambling on about the global warming thing… I'm glad we left!" It was a young boy who spoke; probably Gazzy.

"Yeah man, me too. I could hear everyone whispering about how sad it was that I was blind. Hello! I'm not deaf!" This was undoubtedly Iggy.

"I dunno, I sort of liked it." A little girl's voice. Probably Angel. "It was for a good cause."

"I was feeling cooped up and too much like a zoo exhibit. I needed to get out of there." An older girl's voice, probably Max.

It was quiet after that, and I could hear the clinking of silverware against plates. I would make my move now.

I glided down to the mouth of the cave, unsheathing the Asian swords. Seven startled faces jerked up to look at me. I prepared to charge forward, toward the obvious leader, when a face caught my eyes. A face so beautiful, that the pictures that I had been shown did not do it justice. A face that caught me off guard, frozen in time, unable to attack. Allowing them to make the first move.

Fang made the first move. He charged over to me and punched me in the face. It did not do much damage, except to pull me out of my gaze. I could see the others getting to their feet, and running to attack. I was caught off guard, and in no position to continue my attack on the Flock. I flew away with Max in hot pursuit. I lost her after an hour of flying.

I landed in a tree, still shocked. My thoughts were all scrambled except for one.

The image of her face.

**Cliffhanger! Don't you just hate those? Too bad! Whose face is it? You may be asking. And to clear up things, Sharva is a boy. The female translation is Sharvani. So yeah. REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A LOT more reviews. Thank you! Especially my bestest friend, FullMoonBallad, and to Kiliro, for reviewing first, and to Rainine16. I will finish this story, 'cause of your support. The rest of you who have read it but haven't reviewed, REVIEW!**

_**Max's POV**_

We had left the conference early, for multiple reasons. I, for one, felt like I was a zoo exhibit, being paraded around for show. There were so many people! It was hard not to feel on edge. Even Fang came up to me, a wild look in his eyes, saying, no, pleading with me. "Max," he had said, "I need to get out of here. Now." So, we did.

I gathered the rest of the flock and we made the long trek across the Atlantic Ocean. We rested for a bit, and then we flew back to our first real home in the Rocky Mountains. With Itex gone, we did not need to worry about Erasers guarding the place. When we arrived, we realized that, even if Itex were still around, they would feel no need to guard the house.

It was gone.

Whether it was destroyed by a natural disaster, Itex themselves, or the fallout from Iggy and Gazzy's bomb so long ago, the only thing left was a patch of dead grass, and wood in the canyon below.

We stood there in silence, just remembering. I could see the younger kids starting to cry. Nudge, who had been chattering all the way here, was silent. Iggy was the only one to speak. "What's wrong?" he asked softly. Gazzy, sniffling, answered him, as he always does. "Man, our house is gone. There's nothing left." Iggy stood there stunned. "No way," he breathed. Gazzy came over and hugged him. I did not know which one needed the support of the other. They were both so close. Nudge and Angel were leaning against each other and sobbing quietly. Fang even came over by me and rubbed my shoulder. I looked over, and could see just a hint of sadness in his usually unrevealing eyes. We stood there for a few minutes more, when I broke the silence.

"Come on guys, there is nothing left for us here," I murmured quietly. Dejectedly, the rest of the flock shuffled to the edge of the canyon, and we took off.

One by one, they came out of whatever memory they were revisiting. We flew silently away. We automatically landed in a cave we had used as a second "base camp", and storage. There was some food here, and plates and silverware. To get their minds off of the loss of the house, I started talking about how lame the convention was. They picked up this conversation eagerly, wanting to forget as much as I did. We started a fire, and Iggy started cooking.

We were still talking when we heard a nearly inaudible, but unnatural _swish_. In unison, our heads jerked up to look at the cave entrance.

There was a man outside. No, a teenager, in his late teens. One of us; I could see his wings in the dim firelight. I had thought Itex was gone! All the experiments that had existed we had known about, except for this one. I quickly realized that he was not a friend. He stepped forward into the light. He had two wicked swords in each hand; one straight, one curved. He started towards me, then stopped dead, a blank look replacing the one of satisfaction on his face as he stared over my left shoulder.

Fang recovered from the shock of another human/avian first. He lunged forward, and punched the teen in the face. Oddly, it did not anger him, just seemed to surprise him. I could see him more clearly now.

He looked sort of like a Native American, but without the dark skin. His eyes were black, a deep black. He had long, dark black hair that was tied into a ponytail; it extended down most of his back. He had high cheekbones, a skinny face, a concave nose, and sharp, full, expression-full eyebrows. His wings were massive, nearly twice the size of ours, and black. Up against Fang, the stranger had such black wings, that Fang's wings looked like a dark blue. I have never seen such a vibrant, light-absorbing black.

I noticed all of this as I sprang toward him, ready to take him down and demand why he was here. I never got the chance. He back flipped off of the ledge, spread his immense wingspan, and shot up towards the sky, faster than any of us could have hoped to move. He sped to the north. I was following him as fast as I could go, but even that was not enough. He must have been going at least 280 MPH, because I lost him after an hour. I was exhausted. I glided back to the cave slowly, bewildered by the stranger's visit. Was he a friend or foe? The swords leaned toward the latter choice. What did he want with us, and why did he stop? I needed answers.

I landed, and my face must have told the story. Fang came over by me, and asked if I was all right.

"I'm okay, just puzzled. We need to go after him, for he is a threat."

The flock agreed. Tomorrow, we would go after the stranger.

_**Sharva's POV**_

I could not get her face out of my head. Itex must have planned to show me loaded pictures, for in each of them, every single face looked evil, malicious, ready for a fight. To see the real thing, the curious, inquisitive, outspoken, beautiful face, was another matter all together. Before my gaze had rested on her face, I had noticed the others. The younger two had looked scared, but the boy had almost instantly moved toward his sister. The blind one looked startled. I suppose, hearing the noise, but not seeing the threat must be infuriating. The older two had almost instantly gone into attack mode, but not the malicious faces I had seen in the pictures. It was more of a protective, fight to the death for them face. And then there was hers….

But, how could I see it again? They would attack upon seeing me. As I was thinking about this, a strong gust of wind hit me, and threatened to knock me out of my tree. I was gripping onto the trunk, but I had been distracted, forgetting the first part of my training. I lost my grip, and tried to fly up, but my wings got tangled in the trees. I fell towards the ground on my back, like a stone. Before impact, and before the instant blackness as my head hit the rock, I had one last thought.

I could not kill them. They were people, just like I was. There was a difference between them and those I had fought in the lab. The other experiments had no more sense than an animal, whereas they were fully capable of reason. I could not kill them.

I could not kill _her._

_**Max POV**_

We were getting ready to bed down for the night. I had thought we had no reason to guard tonight, but the stranger had proven me wrong. I would take the first shift. As the others slowly fell asleep, I could see someone out of the corner of my eye come toward me. I turned around, and asked what was wrong.

"You know when that guy came, and he was going to attack us, but he stopped?"

"Yeah sweetie, I've been wondering that myself."

"Well, he was looking at me, studying me. It was really scary."

"Aww, come here. It's all right, I'm sure he was just overwhelmed by all of us at once."

I hugged Nudge for a while, as we both watched the skies for the new threat.

**N'k, not so much of a cliffhanger this time, but I still want opinions. REVIEW!! NOW!! Pretty please? Or I will have to be like the people that threaten not to update for lack of reviews….. SOME of you don't have to worry. **coughKiliroFullMoonBalladcough** I'll contact you. REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**All right, chapter 5! Finally! I had writer's block REALLY bad. Absolutely everything seemed bad to write. I'm still in the end stages of the block, and I just need to write one more chapter to MAYBE make it go away. So, if this chapter is bad, you know why. You have been warned.**

_**Max's POV**_

The next morning we ate a quick breakfast of Iggy's famous campfire eggs. Man can he cook. I was in a fairly good mood, but Fang seemed more withdrawn, and a bit angrier, than usual. Wow. Not going after the attacker must really be eating at him. Nudge still looked a little afraid. Well who wouldn't be? Angel and Gazzy seemed unaffected by yesterday's events, as did Iggy. I still wasn't sure what to think. None of us spoke that much; we all just wanted to think about what had happened. We flew off in the direction he had taken last night, not knowing where we would find him.

***

After nearly three hours of flying, we found him, but just by a stroke of luck. Nudge had been complaining she was tired of flying, and wanted to take a small break. I could see Fang chomping at the bit to get going, but relented. Nudge had brushed over a few of the tall pine trees, but suddenly stopped as her hand hit one of them. We all turned around to see what was wrong. "Guys, I found the tree he was in!" Of course! She can feel what living things have touched objects, or something like that.

Fang spoke his first words of the morning. You could hear the fury in them. I wonder why? Did he know something that he wasn't telling us? I did not have time to think about this for long, because Angel gave us the next big lead.

"Guys, I can hear his mind!"

She had told me yesterday that she could not read his mind. What had happened today? I didn't know, but Fang was already spiraling down to the forest floor, Angel having told him where the guy was. He was already down there by the time the rest of us caught up. He had this look in his eyes, one of pure hatred as he stared at the fallen figure on the ground.

The attacker wasn't moving. Why? I'm no doctor, but judging by the slight pooling of blood under his head, he fell from his perch on the tree, hit the ground head first, and passed out. He also probably hit a few branches on the way down; the trees were packed in tightly together. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Fang had picked up a large tree limb, and stood poised over the body on the ground.

"What are you doing?" I asked, horrified.

"Getting rid of it," he answered calmly, but with a heavy note of fury in his voice.

"No!" I shouted, but another voice joined mine, overpowering it. Nudge. I stood openmouthed as she began one of her few no-nonsense statements.

"We shouldn't kill him! I mean, yeah, he did try to attack us, but he doesn't seem _that_ evil. He stopped didn't he? We should give him a chance. He _is_.. sort of… like us, and what have we got to loose?"

"Our lives," Fang muttered.

"Be quiet, no comments from the peanut gallery!" Nudge snapped.

Woah. I have never seen Nudge like this before. Gazzy and the rest of the flock were standing dumbfounded, staring at her as if she were a nice Eraser! (not that there haven't been any…) Fang was the only one who took her speech in stride. "It doesn't matter. He still attacked us. This ends now." His words were, again, laced with a double meaning. What did he know? At this point, Angel piped up. "Hey, at least listen to Nudge for a second. I couldn't read his mind last night, but when he stopped fighting, I could read a little bit. Mostly, it was a feeling of surprise and… yeah, surprise." In my mind she whispered, _Later! I'll tell you later!_ "Right now, even though he's unconscious, I don't get any feelings of malice at all. Let's just try Fang, please?

Whether she influenced him with her mind, or whether her terrible Bambi eyes worked on him, Fang narrowed his eyes, and spat out "Fine!" He never snaps at Angel! What is going on?

Fang and I picked up the boy, **(A/N: couldn't find a better word than boy. Sorry!)** Fang at the feet, and I took the head. We slowly made our way back to the cave. Fang insisted on tying the guy to a chair that was left behind. Why? I don't know. You'd think after hitting his head, the kid wouldn't be moving too fast. Either way, Fang disarmed the attacker, finding four swords and a rifle. He found some spare ropes, and really overdid the whole bind-the-victim-to-the-chair deal. First he wrapped the rope around the guy's torso and the chair, then did the same with his massive wings. The rest, binding his hands and feet to the arms and legs of the chair took less than 10 minutes. We set the whole ensemble in a darkened corner of the cave, Fang watching him like a vulture the whole time. The rest of us tried to get on with planning on what to do next, but were all distracted by our guest. A few hours later, he started to come around.

_**Sharva's POV**_

I don't know how long it was before I started thinking again. All I could feel was a throbbing in my head. Sometime later, I could see light through my eyelids. The throbbing increased, irritated by the light. I opened my eyes, and panicked.

I was unable to move, that was the main thing. I was bound to a chair from shoulders to ankles. I have never been tied up before. That alone was enough to freak me out entirely. But no, there was more. I was in a cave. Whether or not it was the same cave I had tried to kill the flock remains to be see. The last straw was one of the flock, Fang, standing in front of me, the barrel of my rifle against my chest.

I flipped out.

For the first time in my life, I was afraid.

I did not want to show a weakness, but it was really hard not to let some of the fear that washed over me show. Fear of not moving, not being able to defend myself. I could not move. At all. I could not retaliate, get myself out of here. I was drowning in the fear now, choking on it. What would cause him to pull the trigger? I could not just complete the mission, maybe sparing the _her _life. I looked toward the girl. She did not deserve to die. I don't know, but I feel…different. I…don't know. It feels so weird. It made me forget the fear for a bit, but I tore my eyes away from her to look at my other captors. The fear came back immediately.

Fang had a cold gaze that I recognized. The gaze of a killer. He showed no emotion as he held the rifle up, finger on the trigger. I could see the other members of the flock behind him. Max looked as cold as Fang did. Iggy was leaning toward Gazzy, as Gazzy was explaining what was happening to him. Gazzy himself looked a little frightened. Angel was concentrating, but also looked afraid. And then…her… Nudge looked curious. The only really friendly face in a sea of fear and anger. I tore my eyes away from her as Fang started to speak.

"Don't move." Like I was going to. Actually, like I really could move. "I know what you are." The look on Max's face said otherwise. A flame of emotion rose in his eyes, a flame of anger, fury, and hate. "You're an assassin." No shit. Max came over and asked him quietly to come with her. Fang looked mad at having to leave his victim, but finally followed Max around a corner of the cave.

The part of the cave I was in was separate from the rest. I could see a small fire in the corner of the cavern, bathing it with light. I could also see light, sunlight or firelight, reflecting off of another wall. There was an opening in one corner, where the two had disappeared. I could hear arguing voices, but not any words. Time to start looking for a way out of here. Before I could get very far, I was thwarted in my efforts.

"There's no way out." Angel. Shit. Of course she could read my mind. I tried to close my mind to her, but once she was "in", it was hard to get her "out". What had she heard? I did not have time to ponder this, because the other two were back.

"All right, assassin. You will be held here until we can figure out what to do with you." His expression said he wished to kill me, but Max must have taken him down a notch. Angel and Nudge looked like the victors of a war. Hmm, wonder what that was about. And what did they plan to do with me? They started to leave. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Angel yet again made her presence known in my head.

_Listen, Fang's just letting you live because we told him that we would give you a chance. He really wants to kill you, even more than he would any of our other enemies. I don't know why. He will be guarding outside the cavern, so don't try to escape. And yes, I did hear everything you thought after you woke up. _She grimaced a little, then left. Fang was the last to leave. He glared at me, then put out the fire. The cavern was immersed in darkness. I heard him leave, and the thin light that was reflecting off of a different fire outlined him for a split second. He rounded the corner, and I heard him sit down.

There really was no way out.

The fear came back.

It went away a little, as I thought of Nudge. She was the only one who seemed friendly toward me. Why? I realized one thing.

Since I had seen her, really seen her for the first time, I had changed. I had this feeling, a feeling of protectiveness. I could not stop thinking about her. I thought of her now as a person, not as a target. This thinking led me to thinking of the others as people too, and not just their weaknesses and strengths. I realized I could not complete my mission.

I could not kill any of them.

****Sigh** I probably bombed that whole chapter. It seems pretty thin, if you know what I mean. I have discovered I am not good at doing romance, so if anyone has any suggestions, or stories I can read that will give me ideas, LET ME KNOW!! Just let me know in reviews though. No PM for me, long story. REVIEW!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, chapter six. This may be more fluff, but I have to get better with romance before this thing gets any farther. I need suggestions! And Fang really does have a reason to hate Sharva, besides the obvious, but that comes later.**

_**Max POV**_

Something's up with Fang. He's more quiet than he normally his, he's been snapping at the younger kids, and his eyes keep wandering toward the gun the assassin brought, then to the cave where he's being held. Speaking of whom, I don't really know what to think. The stranger's got this poker face like no tomorrow! His face was totally blank, but calculating. I saw his eyes wander towards Nudge again. Coincidence? Or not? I just don't know. Angel came towards me, and whispered in my mind.

_Hey Max, remember when we were in the woods, and I said I would tell you something later?_

_Yeah… _I responded.

_He wasn't just feeling surprise, he was feeling…affection. Like, sort of between you and Fang _I stiffened. We were that close? _But a lot less. It was weird. And I heard you worrying about Fang, and him being all quiet. I can't help you there, he's shutting me out. _

_Well, thanks anyway. I don't know what we are going to do. It's just so weird._

_You'll figure something out. You always do._

With that, she skipped over to Iggy, who was making dinner. I sighed. "I suppose we should feed the… stranger." We had not learned his name.

"Why?" Fang grumbled from around the corner.

"Um, because he needs to eat too! Hello! We aren't Itex! We don't starve our…guests." The rest of the flock shifted uncomfortably, when Iggy spoke up.

"I've got enough here for another pizza. (He was making mini deep dish pan pizzas. Yum!) It won't be a problem."

"Fine," Fang growled.

"I'll take the food to him!" a voice chirped. I looked toward the sound. Nudge.

_**Nudge's POV**_

I can't believe Fang is actually letting me do this! He seems so overprotective when it comes to the stranger. It's sort of weird. Which is why he is going to pretty much hover over my shoulder until I get out of the cavern. So much for finding out who the guy is! He seems pretty nice. Maybe his weapons were just for his protection, and he thought we were Erasers. I just really want to get to know him better. He doesn't seem bad.

I walk with Fang into the dark cavern. Fang strikes a match on the wall, and throws it into a waiting pile of wood. I can see the stranger. He closes his eyes tight against the sudden glare of the fire. He blinks a few times to focus, then his eyes settle on me. Again. But the weird thing is, I don't mind. It feels sort of nice, in a weird way. Fang has to ruin the moment by untying the guy's arm, but threatening to shoot if he tries anything. Of course, Fang the Firearm Fanatic has the stranger's gun. I handed him the plate with the pizza on it. He looks into my eyes, but I cannot read the emotion there. "Thank you," he says in a deep, rough voice. "You're welcome," I say as Fang ushers me out of the cavern. Of course, he stays behind to guard the starving stranger, just to make sure he doesn't cut the ropes with the plate, or something stupid like that.

I sneak back around, and peek into the cavern. The stranger is literally wolfing down the food. I wonder when he last ate, poor thing! Fang is standing in front of him, his gaze as cold as ice. After he finishes eating, I hurry back in. Fang guessed I was watching outside, but who cares?! I take the plate and ask a quick question before Fang intervenes. "What is your name?"

He looks at me, but this time his eyes seem unfocused, dazed, and in pain. There is also something else there, but I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. He struggles to find the right words. "Sharva," he answers, and slumps into unconsciousness.

I stand there for a moment, confused. Max comes in, sees Sharva, and asks, "Oh God Fang, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" he says sharply. "Why do you blame me?!"

Max ignores him and walks around to the back of the limp figure in the chair. I follow. There is a bloodstain all down the back of the chair, and pooling onto the floor. His head injury! That was the one thing we overlooked. What would happen now?

And more importantly, would Sharva be okay?

_**Sharva's POV**_

I sat in the darkness for a long time, coming to terms with my fears. My muscles were growing stiff, and falling asleep, making escape nearly impossible. Not that I really wanted to escape. 'Cause, if I escaped, Itex would come after me, retrain me, or worse. Nevertheless, I would come back to the flock, and succeed in killing them without any qualms about doing so. I could not let that happen. So, I am content to be a prisoner until I can voice my story.

If I weren't in the dark, everything would be fine. In the dark, you can hear things, but cannot see, or in my case, do, anything about it. I can hear the flock in the main part of the cave, talking. I can hear every word as if they are in the same room as me. I can hear Fang breathing just outside the entrance to my confines, he sounds like he is right next to me. And I can hear the dripping of the blood from my head wound, onto the floor. The even drip sounds as if it is right inside my ear, driving me insane with noise. With every drip, I grow a little weaker, loosing hold of my sanity. I cannot escape from here. Even thought of Nudge will not make this terrible fear go away. Bound, in the dark, not knowing what will happen next, wounded, unable to twist the future to favor your life. It's enough to drive anyone mad.

So, when I hear voices, and people entering the cavern, I am drawn out of my battle to stay calm. The sudden flash of light blinds me, torture in itself. I try to focus,and it takes me no time at all to realize who is in the room. Fang, of course, and Nudge. Like an angel to save me from my fears. Fang unties my hand, but I do not pay attention to his threats. Nudge hands me some food, which I take without looking at it. "Thank you," I say automatically. God she is beautiful. "Your welcome," she says kindly, in a voice that sounds like bells. Fang herds her out, and I look at my meal for the first time. I cannot identify it. At Itex, I was fed nearly the same thing every day. I did not mind, but this was new. It smelled delicious. I took a tentative bite, afraid of poison. It _looked_ all right, so I dug in.

A few seconds later, I realized that I should have been more careful. I moved my head too much, and everything was blurry, blacking out in places. Nudge came back in, but I could barely focus on her face until she came closer. She asked me something, and this time her voice did not sound like bells. It sounded tinny, far away, like over an intercom in the middle of no where. "What is your name?" It took me a while to process the words, longer to find the answer, and forever to find my remaining strength to answer. "Sharva," I said, and my vision faded.

**Cliffhanger! Yay me! I'm sort of out of writer's block, but still recovering. Again, thank you my ever faithful reviewers. Chapter seven will be a little bit in coming. And for those of you who have read Fang's worst night Ever, what do you think of potato launchers? Other suggestions are welcome, but get them in before tomorrow, when my friend and I will write the third chapter! Haha! For those of you new to the story, it just takes less than two minutes of your time to click the review button, so please do! Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am sooooo sorry. It has been forever! And this is not a very good chapter. I think that after I (eventually) finish this story, I'm going to go back and rewrite a lot of it. Anyway, here's Chapter 7!**

_**Max's POV**_

At first, I blamed Fang. He's been acting really hostile around this … Sharva. I could easily imagine him taking a swing at his head. I had been right outside the entrance to the cavern, just in case things went bad. Walking in, I saw Sharva sag in his restraints, and immediately thought the worst. _Fang, how could you?_ "Oh God Fang, what did you do?"

"Nothing! Why do you blame me!" he practically shouted.

_Because you want to hate him. Because you are keeping something from us. _Yes, now I was sure he was not telling us the whole story. I respected his silence, but my God! He could tell us at any time! I was drawn out of my thoughts by Nudge's wail. "Max! What happened? Is he dead? I don't want him to be dead! He seemed so nice! HE SHOULDN'T BE DEAD!"

"He'd be better off dead." Fang muttered as he left the cavern. Or did he say that? I don't know. I was busy comforting Nudge. She was wailing; sobbing, and had hugged me tight and dragged me to the floor. Wow. She must be really put out. "Shh, it's okay. I'll see what's wrong." Why was she so sad? It's not like she really knew the guy! I slowly unwrapped her arms from me. I checked Sharva's pulse. I had no idea what I was looking for, but it felt erratic, first fast, then slow. His breathing was shallow. I walked around the chair and immediately saw the problem.

There was, literally, a pool of blood on the ground. My boots made a mini-splash as they stepped in it. And it was getting bigger all the time. There was a steady trickle of blood running down the back of Sharva's head down the chair, and onto the floor of the cave. "Oh God," I murmured. It must have been that crack on the head he took from falling out of the tree. From the looks of it, the blood loss caused him to pass out. "What is it?" Nudge asked timidly. "Get Iggy and tell him to grab the first aid kit," I said without answering her question, afraid she might start crying again. For no real reason. Iggy came, along with Angel and Gazzy. Great. Just great. They would probably get freaked out too. This is when I don't like being a leader. I led Iggy around to where the wound was. "Feel it?" I asked. He did. "It's pretty deep Max. It's not something that will go away if I bandage it up." Shit. Should we save him, or shouldn't we. "Max?" Nudge said pleadingly, "We're going to help him, right? Please? Max, he hasn't done anything to us! It would be cruel to leave him! Please, can we help him?"

How can anyone say no to that? Guess who can. Yup. Fang. "We should leave him." Fang had slipped back into the cave, silent as a shadow. "Oh, just leave him to die?" I said harshly. "And where would we be if that were the case with you? If we left you behind every time you got hurt?" What was I saying? I would never do that to Fang! He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to protest. "We don't have time, Fang. Iggy! Wrap up his head. Gazzy! Untie him and lay him down on the ground after Iggy's done. I'm going to call Mom. She'll help."

***

Mom was en route from Madagascar. She had just gotten off of the plane when I called, asking her to come to Colorado. She agreed without question. Just another reason why I love my mom. We half-carried/half-dragged Sharva down to the nearest road, being careful of his head. Mom showed up hours later. Sharva had since lost more blood, and was looking deathly pale. Nudge was with him now, making sure pressure remained on the wound. Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy watched from afar. You could tell they did not trust Sharva, but did not want his death on their hands. Fang had all but ignored our presence. He sat in a tree, typing madly away on his laptop. Fine, he could be that way! See if I care!

Mom showed up hours later. She took one look at Sharva, and immediately ordered us to lay him on the bench seat of the minivan. She could do nothing until we got home, more than two hours away. We arrived, and we carried him upstairs to a room already prepared for the wounded. We usually came back home with the normal cuts and scrapes from a fight, but Mom kept a small room ready just in case it was serious. It was here we laid him on the hospital bed. Mom told us to get out, she had to stitch him up, and it was something we didn't really need to see. I had to practically drag Nudge away. What was with her? Her behavior was nothing like normal. I wasn't sure about this subdued, quiet Nudge. It was strange. Mom came back out sooner than I expected. Her white **shudder** coat was stained red. "He needs blood. I'm running a blood test, but I want to see if any of yours will match up. I just need a small sample…for now. Any volunteers?" I stepped forward, as did Nudge and Iggy, which surprised me. I shuddered as the needle pierced my skin. I would never get used to that.

As it turns out, we all matched Sharva's blood type. Iggy, Nudge and I were semi-willing donors. Sharva was actually starting to look a little better after he was hooked up to blood. Fang had retreated to his room right after we got home, and no one had seen him since. Or Sharva's weapons and laptop, for that matter. Fang probably had them. Right now, I was curled up on the couch, dozing off. Nudge came down the stairs. She had been sitting up with Sharva. "He's awake," she whispered.

_**Nudge's POV**_

He was waking up. Would he remember me? I just couldn't let him die. When he talked to me I felt…alive. Yeah, I've always felt alive, but more so today. Like, in a good way. Happy. And when he passed out I was terrified. Would I loose that feeling? Was it really him? I'm almost afraid to admit it, but it feels like what Angel says Fang and Max feel like. But, that's impossible! I don't even know him! It's just so confusing! He stirred. I leaned a little closer, and he opened his eyes.

"Nudge," he whispered. His voice was deep, rough. "Where am I?" His eyes shot around quickly, taking in surroundings. Fear shone in their black depths as he took in the medical equipment. "You're at Dr. Martinez's house," I said quickly, "Max's mom." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," he said. I felt a thrill run up my spine at his words. _Calm down, _I told myself,_ we're just talking._ He studied my face. I started to blush and looked away. "You know I don't mean you or your flock any harm," he said slowly. He thought I was scared! No! I don't want him to think that! Shoot! How do I convince him I'm not afraid?

"Yeah, I know," I said, hopefully sounding casual. God this was so awkward! "I don't think you'd hurt us." He gave a wry chuckle. "So easy to trust," he murmured to himself. Then, louder, "Yeah. Let's just go with that. I would never hurt any of you, especially you." I looked at him. Did he really mean that? Or was he just saying it to comfort me? Ugh, this was soooo confusing! He looked at me steadily. "I think you should go tell your leader that I am conscious. She will probably want to know. I nodded once, and left.

He liked me. I just _knew_ he did. But how would everyone else react? And how could I explain my feelings for him? That I liked him back?

_**Sharva's POV**_

I had woken to see the face of my angel, only to send her away too quickly. I was afraid that if she had stayed too much longer, I would have blurted out my life's story. She must never know. If she did, she would be so horrified, and it would send her away from me forever. The rest of the flock would come down on me, treating me as just another assassin of Itex. Maybe someday she will know, but not now. When Max comes, I will give her an excuse for finding them in Colorado. Maybe that will ease some suspicion. I will find a way to stay. Maybe by then Nudge will love me as I love her.

**Again, I apologize for not updating. Things got really busy, and I had school start. I'll write in a spare notebook during study hall. It should go faster, but don't count on it!! Again, please review. I'm not to great at the romance stuff, but it gets more interesting later on, within the next couple of chapters. And while you're on fanfiction… please read CrazyLittleKooKoo's story, **_**A Haunted Past**_**. It is REALLY a great story. **


	8. Chapter 8

**N'k, so I figure I could give you guys an extra chapter since I left it for so long. Not much to say. Except…does anyone think Brittany Spear's **_**Circus**_** is the perfect song for Max's and the Flock's life? Like Untouched by the Veronicas is perfect for New Moon? I know there are better songs out there, but this one came to mind the other day. I really don't like Brittany Spears, at all, but the song is okay. Anyway, Chapter 8!**

_**Max POV**_

It had been a week since we brought Sharva to our house. Things seemed to be getting back to normal, but there was still tension in the air. Mainly coming from… yeah, I hate to admit it, but Fang. He tried to hide it from the smaller kids, but every time he heard Gazzy or someone talk about him, you could really see Fang trying to keep a good face on. He would try to hide his anger, but it leaked out in waves. He didn't just dislike Sharva. He _hated_ him. But try to ask him about it, and he puts on his infamous poker face and blows you off. For example

"My God Fang! The poor guy was just allowed out of bed today! You could have at least said hi instead of glaring and walking away! What's with you?"

"What's with _you_?! You've been acting like he's been part of the flock since Jeb busted us from the School! And you ask what's wrong with me. I'm just being cautious, like you should be."

He usually would storm off after an argument like that. Frankly, I thought Sharva was an okay guy. It just killed me to get after Fang. This was drawing us apart, and I didn't like it. After just two days, Mom let him get out of the hospital bed. Apparently his rate of healing was even faster than ours. He was still a little dizzy, but blew it off as lying in bed for days. He had told me earlier that he thought that a rogue group of Erasers were in the cave; some that had escaped before Itex could kill them. I took that story, 'cause who knows? We escaped! Why does Fang have a problem with that? Normally, Sharva keeps his distance from the rest of us, but makes a conscious effort to get to know us better. The other day he was on the couch, watching Angel teach Total flying techniques, like steering with the tips of your feathers. Total was just not getting it. I was about to butt in and tell Total to stop his grumbling, when Sharva beat me to it.

"You're going to want to move the tips on the farthest outside," he said. "You do that by moving the whole feather. The muscle that controls that feather is right here." He brought his wing around to the front and rubbed a spot near the top.

"Hmm." Total flapped into the air, and actually got it right. He landed sniffed his nose up and said loudly, "Well, you're better than SOMEONE for teaching me how to fly." He leaped onto the couch, and curled up with Sharva. Before he could begin his lecture though, Angel asked " How did you learn that?"

Sharva looked down, not quite meeting her eyes. "I…I watched some falcons the one time." Angel's gaze darkened for a minute. I asked her about it later. "What was wrong? He wasn't telling us everything was he?"

"He shut me out as soon as I asked the question," she replied looking troubled.

"It's all right. He probably did it without thinking." _I hope_.

Sharva also found a fascination with Iggy's favorite pastime. Cooking. I found out the hard way.

"NO!" came a screech from the kitchen. I raced in to find Iggy hollering at Sharva. Apparently, teaching Sharva how to make spaghetti was not going to great.

"You have to cook the meat FULLY before you even THINK of adding the sauce. And no, the noodles have to be cooked also! You can't just stuff them in the bowl raw! My God! Seriously, how did you survive? It's like you've never cooked before in your life!"

"I haven't," he mumbled. "I stole what I needed. Usually just heat-and-eat and canned stuff. Again, he never met Iggy's eyes. Not that Iggy would notice of course. "Well you will learn to cook NOW!"

So, he wasn't telling us everything. That's okay. I still haven't told Mom and Ella everything. But, on the downside, Fang has also noticed this. "He's keeping information from us. We can't trust him. We should make him leave." I just ignored his comments. Ella kept her distance, as did Gazzy. Mom was welcoming, and tried to make him feel at home. She gave him a room downstairs, farthest away from Fang's room as possible. It was small, more of a guest room, but he didn't seem to mind. The person who spent the most time with him though was Nudge.

Anyone could see that there was something between them. They just sort of…fit. But you could also see that they were unsure of themselves, as if they were confused. One wasn't sure if the other felt the same way. Like I haven't felt THAT before! Each kept making excuses to spend time with the other.

"I'm going to teach Sharva to play chess." (where she learned how to play, I have no clue…)

"Nudge needs help …drawing…"

"We're watching a movie with Iggy and Gazzy." And so on.

I didn't know whether to let them keep going, or whether to stop it. We still didn't know much about Sharva, and Fang did have a point. What if he was dangerous? And Nudge knew him as well as we did: not much at all. Was this a mistake? I don't know. I'll let it go for now and see what happens…

_**Sharva's POV**_

Did you know cooking is the single hardest thing I have ever tried? It's so confusing! Make sure it's cooked through, but don't burn it! Take the peel off this, leave it on that, and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T PUT A METAL CAN IN THE MICROWAVE! It's enough to drive anyone insane! But the end product is delicious. Besides spending time with Nudge, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are my favorite times of the day. I have never had such a variety of food. At Itex, it was always mixed vegetables, some kind of meat (which I now know was slightly charred,) bread, and a glass of milk. Here, such flavors! Tacos, chili, shepherds pie! But the best of all is pizza. Usually, I just watch Iggy cook. Frankly, it amazes me how he knows his way around a kitchen, especially for him being blind. Sometimes he'll ask me to help. He's a good teacher, and very, VERY patient.

It's weird. I have so much more freedom here. In Itex, just about every moment of the day was put toward training. Here, I can actually do things when I want to. I can wake up when I want, without having an alarm go off. I don't have to answer to anyone. Well, not really, but still. I have discovered what fun means.

The other day, as I was walking through the living room, I noticed Ella on the couch reading a book. All the books I have ever read had been written about strategy, tactics, fighting, and the like. So it was to my surprise when she said it was something called fiction. "Fiction means it never has, nor ever will take place. Like this one, Twilight, is about vampires, and as far as we know, none exist." She looked a little disgruntled. Hmm. That sounded interesting. I asked her if I could borrow some of these "fiction books". She frowned a little and said she would try to find something at school.

The next day while I was playing chess with Nudge. Awesome game, by they way. Mostly, I was just listening to her talk. I realized that most of the flock members got sick of hearing her, but I just couldn't get enough. She just rambled on as if there were not a care in the world. Ella popped into Nudge's room, and handed me a book; _Among the Hidden._ Before I could even say thanks, she was gone. I knew she was afraid. I could, literally, feel it. Just like I could feel Fang's hatred. I resented their fear. I just wanted to fit in. That would probably never happen. Nudge must have caught my train of thought.

"People were afraid of us too. It's normal."

"Yeah," I muttered, "Sure."

She came around the chessboard and hugged me. I tensed, a reaction that had been beaten into me by Itex, but then relaxed. Nudge would never hurt me. I was safe in her arms. I know, the hug was to comfort me, but I liked it nonetheless. "It's okay, Ella will get over it," she murmured.

I hugged her tighter. "Thanks," I murmured in her ear. Then on an "oh what the heck" basis, I kissed her cheek. Nothing long, just a quick kiss. But it was the most thrilling thing I have ever done.

***

That night, as I was just finishing _Among the Hidden_, Max cracked open the door. Seeing it was just me, she snuck in and quietly closed the door. She handed me my laptop. "If anyone asks, you don't have this. It took a lot to sneak into Fang's room, let alone find this. So let's just let him think he misplaced it."

"Thanks," I said, then added, "for everything."  
She smiled then left. I finished the book a few minutes later. It was really good, and I wanted to see if there was a sequel. I turned on the laptop, logged onto the internet. Awesome! Six more books. I'll ask Ella if she will get me the rest. As I clicked off of the internet, my eyes fell onto the Itex icon. Hmm. I'd have to contact them and give an excuse for not completing the mission. Or I could say that I did and that the flock was dead, and I was moving onto phase 2. That would work. Nah, tomorrow. I logged off, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

_**Itex Headquarters**_

"Sir!" a worker shouts. "We have activity from Assassin 1!"

"So he isn't dead," the director mutters. Days without contact. No public news of the Flock's death. No news was bad news. The worker keeps giving stats. "No sign to contact us… and the tracer says he's at the Flock's house in Arizona."

"So he's run into trouble," the director calmly declares. "Send some help. 5 hunters should do."

**Yay, it's up! It would have been up on Thursday, but FanFiction was not working on my computer. And has anyone read **_**The Hunger Games**_**?**** I just started it today, and it is AWESOME!!! So, I'll probably have ch. 9 up next week at this time, or on the weekend. Look for it, and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**N'k, I'm putting a hold on the romance and writing what I write best. Fight and run scenes! Yay! That's all I'm saying right now. Read on, dear reader, read on.**

_**Sharva's POV**_

The next day I was helping Iggy and Gazzy re-build their remote control airplanes. These things were top of the line, full size hobby planes, each taking up the surface of a dinner table. In this case, each took up half of Iggy's room. But just having these really cool planes was not enough, oh no. They wanted to make them into _fighter_ planes, complete with miniature missiles and drop bombs.

Since I have some experience with explosives, I offered to help. Gazzy wasn't afraid of me anymore. You'd think I was Iggy for all the attention he was giving me. We had a small handful of mini missiles, and I was just helping attach the launcher when I felt it.

Remember how I have the sixth sense? **(A/N: Chapter 3)** I can locate anyone in the world once I get to know them. And right now I knew Itex was after me. They had sent the Hunters to get me. "Iggy. Give me the missiles," I said quietly. He looked unsure, uneasy at my tone of voice, but he gave them to me. I could now see their wings outside the window. "Run," I said as the first Hunter crashed through the window.

Hunters are cougar/avian/human mix. Instead of Erasers, where humans were the "base," and the avian/human genes were added, Hunters start out as cougars, and have just the right amount of intelligence to communicate, follow orders and strategize. Add that to a cougar's brutal hunting skills as a predator, and add wings, and not just any wings, ones with razor edges, and you have the most deadly killer Itex has ever created. Why send me to kill the flock? Hunters don't just kill. I can at least make it look like an accident, and plan ahead. Hunters, no matter how much human intelligence given to them, will totally maul, and sometimes eat their prey. They are given a sample of blood of their victim…to drink. Once they come down with "bloodlust", or a craving for that person's blood, nothing can stop the hunt. They, like me, will locate wherever that person is, and kill them or be killed themselves. The only way they stay "sane" is when they go on tracking trips, to bring back something or someone.

Which I hope was happening now.

So it was one of the largest Hunters I have ever seen that crashed through the window. "RUN IGGY!" Gazzy screamed. I threw the missiles at the first hunter, blowing a hole through his chest. The one behind him didn't hesitate, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw it, face splattered with blood, leaping on the carcass. That would hold the group for a maximum of 2 minutes. I raced upstairs, needing to find the one thing to hold them off from the flock.

I burst into Fang's room to find him going over my rifle. That wasn't what I was looking for. "Get the hell out of my room!" he roared. I ignored him. There they were. In less than 15 seconds I had the swords strapped to my back and around my waist. While I was putting them on, I said, "Get the others out of here. Take them away. Hide." I turned around to find the barrel of the loaded rifle against my neck, under my chin.

"Why?" Fang growled. The black pits of his eyes, darkened with hatred, could have killed me, if that were possible. "So you can have fun hunting us down again? Just an extra challenge for someone like you. I think I should just kill you right now."

"If you let me go, you won't have to. Itex is not gone. They sent people after me. If you leave with everyone, you can be saved. Choose quickly, they're already downstairs." I have to give him credit; he didn't need to think about it at all. He took the gun from my neck and stalked out into the hall. Max was out there. All he needed to say was run, get the others. She looked at me, and all I said was, "Tell Nudge I'm sorry."

Within moments, everyone, including Ella and Dr. Martinez, were gone. I had lied to Fang. If all went as planned, I would still be alive. Telling Max about Nudge was just show. I snuck back downstairs. Unfortunately, I met the blood-spattered Hunters on the stairwell. This put me at a disadvantage. I need to be able to swing around for the swords to be much help. I halted at the middle of the steps. Maybe they weren't here to kill me.

"The Director wants you back," the first one growled, showing his fangs. It was dead before it noticed me take the Flamberge out of its sheath. But, the next hunter in line had seen me. Before I could come back from the swing of the blade and grab the Claymore, it had leaped at me, and slashed my chest wide open with its claws. I made the first mistake in a fight in my career. I stumbled backward. Allowing the Hunter to take another swipe, this time hitting me full in the face, right over my right eye. I fell all the way, but I had stabbed it through the chest. It twisted as it fell, its razor wings slashing open more wounds on my chest. I started to black out. I could not see out of my right eye, and what I could see out of the left was slowly dimming. I had told Fang the truth. I would never see Nudge again.

_**Max's POV**_

We were in the woods behind the house. Just a few minutes after we left, we saw what had found us. 4 figures left the house, two flying mountain lion-things and two human/avians. One was flying on its own, and the other was Sharva. He looked to be unconscious, and was being flown through the air by the two mountain lions, each digging their claws into his arms. I almost asked if we should go after them, but one look at Fang told me the answer. For the first time in days, he looked happy. Not just happy, but ecstatic. Nudge, however wasn't so thrilled. She had seen Sharva's unconscious body, and Gazzy had to hold her down to keep her from crying out and going to him. She got free just as the four flyers disappeared, and tried to fly in that direction. Fang grabbed her, and she screamed, "NO! I'm going after him! He doesn't deserve that! How could you leave him? There were only four! We can overpower them easily!"

"Shut up Nudge! It's good he's gone."

"How? What did he ever do to you? What did he ever do to us?! Who knows what's going to happen to him?"

"They'll kill him," Fang said coldly. "And we won't be going after him."

Nudge looked horrified. She looked as if she were about to start mouthing off again when I took her from Fang's grasp and into my arms. She started to cry. "Who died and made you leader? I'm still alive, so nobody did! Why do you hate him so much? You need to tell us. NOW." The others had been listening silently, when Mom spoke up. "Fang, you owe it to all of us. You need to tell us why you hate Sharva."

"Why do I hate him?" Fang asked coldly. "I don't just hate him. Hate is too mild of a word. Why? Because he killed my brother."

_**Flashback: Fang's POV**_

I woke up next to Talon. We share a large cage at the School. Talon, my brother, is 14. He has black hair, streaked with silver, like his wings. I, Fang, am 7. Talon takes care of me. When I come back from experiments, he calms me down from my terrors. He sometimes gives me part of his food ration. He helps me get to sleep when I'm afraid. He's the best big brother ever.

Talon's already awake. "Hey little bro, how're you this mornin'?" I stretched out my wings. They were small; nothing compared to Talon's massive silver wingspan. "Hungry," I say, just as my stomach growls. He laughs and ruffles my hair. "So'm I kiddo." I turn around so he can reach my wings. We always do this for each other every morning; smoothing out the feathers, aligning them, and itching the wing joint. It gives us something to do, and it feels good. It always takes me forever to do his wings, but I'm getting faster.

This morning, food comes early. And its not the usual meager rations we usually get, but a whole meal. This is not normal. I look to Talon, wanting him to tell me it's all right, but I see his gaze darken for a second. It clears, and I'm left wondering if I even saw anything. "Looks like you won't need any of my food today!" He says somewhat cheerfully. We wolf down the food when the Erasers come, holding two dog crates. We know the drill. If one resists, the other is hurt. We get in without a fight.

We are loaded onto a cart, and are taken into a room where we are left. Almost instantly, I fall unconscious.

They had gassed us. We awake inside a big rumbling thing. I'm afraid, but one look from Talon hushes me. He's trying to figure out what's going on. He can here _everything_. Even stuff from over a mile away. There's some bumping, and a hatch opens up. We are rolled into a large arena. Another human/avian stands in the middle. He's Talon's age. Without warning, Talon's cage opens up, and he is thrust into the center of the arena. He is given a long shaft with a sharpened point. "Fight!" I hear. Still woozy from whatever knocked us out, Talon stumbles toward the other. The other fighter lofts into the air, and attempts to come down on top of Talon. Talon barely manages to see what's going on before the fighter lands on top of him. One stroke of the shining metal in the fighters hand, and one of Talon's wings is lopped off. Talon shrieks and falls to his knees. Another swing, the other wing is gone. Talon's screams fade off as the pool of blood gets larger. One more swing, and he screams no more.

I'm the only one screaming. Before I know it, my cage has been opened. I am given Talon's spear. The fighter looks at me in scorn. "Who do you think I am?" he says. "He's too easy. I need something harder to fight." Before this can register, I am given a shot, and I know no more.

_**Fang POV, present**_

You ask why I hate him. Do I need to say more. He deserves death, and hell is too good for him.

**Review. NOW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**OMG. Have you seen the new trailer for New Moon? It's better than trailer 1! New Moon is going to be SOOOO much better than Twilight. But what do you think? Will New Moon beat Twilight? See the poll on my profile. And, from here on out unless I say, this is rated between ****T and M**** for some violence. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

_**Fang's POV**_

I hadn't told them everything. That was the bland, watered down version of the story. Reality was worse, much worse, and they didn't need to know. But the basics were there, and it got the point across. Sharva was planning to kill us. I can't even understand why I didn't disobey Max from the beginning and take him out. I don't know why, but I am regretting it. I just hope that they took him back to kill him, and not to send him out for us again.

I saw disbelief then fear cross the 8 faces in front of me. Max was mad. "Why didn't you tell us this before?! It would be a LOT more helpful if we knew an assassin was in the house! My God Fang! What were you thinking?"

Frankly, I have no idea, but she didn't need to know. "I wanted to see what his strategy was. Obviously, he wanted to try and see how we worked together before he attacked. He wouldn't have wanted to go in blind. I was going to tell you today, but that happened. And I didn't think you needed to know about…Talon." She looked a little more satisfied, but was still mad. Gazzy looked up at me, and whispered, "He's not coming back, is he Fang? I'm scared. He seemed so nice…how could he be bad?"

Before I could say a word, Dr. Martinez took Gazzy into her arms, and hugged him. "Some people are just that way. We don't know their true nature until they show it to us."

Nudge was the most affected. "No…" she whispered, "It… it's not true…you're lying…"

That put me over the edge. "Lie? Why would I lie?!" I spat. "I saw my brother, the only person I had to lean on, be killed by that…monster! How dare you say that I lie!"

Nudge has never been known to let things go without a fight. "Oh yeah? Where's the proof?! Remember when Itex captured us? They said they could put us in a dream that felt real! What if what you saw was fake? I won't believe he's a killer until I see it!"

In answer, I pulled out his laptop. I had jacked it from his room. How he got it is beyond me. Damn stealer. "Log in. Anything on here would tell us in a heartbeat that I'm right." She took the laptop from me, but immediately recoiled at what she felt. I didn't blame her. She steeled herself, feeling for the password. After a few seconds, she was in, and gave it back to me, shuddering a bit.

If this were anything like the laptop I got from Itex, there would be a little projector on the top. There it was. I flipped it on, and a larger projection of the screen showed up on a large rock in the clearing we were in. The desktop had the Itex logo in the background. I clicked on one of the icons on the side, _Training Videos_. I heard a gasp behind me, but didn't look to see who it was. The screen went dark, and the video began to play.

Sharva stood in the middle of an arena. Around the edges stood 7 figures, our clones, Max II, Nudge II, Angel II, Total II, Iggy II, Gazzy II, and me…II. Wow, that was weird. Someone off screen shouted "Go!"

The clones rushed Sharva, unarmed. Max II did what Max usually does: a roundhouse kick. Sharva was faster, unsheathing two of his swords and slicing her leg…off. Max II went down with a shriek of pain. It made me furious, white hot anger, to see Max, any Max, go down. It made me want to kill Sharva even more than when I had seen him kill Talon. I only pondered this for a moment when I saw me…II… spiral down from the air, aiming my landing for the back of Sharva's neck. He whipped around, and spread his huge wings and with one stroke, lofted himself 9 feet into the air. I…Fang II…was momentarily distracted by the sudden appearance of the wings, and was trying to fly backwards. My clone was dead before he hit the ground.

We could see Sharva's gaze go blank, and he started drifting to the floor. Angel II was using her mind to immobilize him. Amazingly, he shook his head and recovered. None of us have ever been able to do that. We have to block our minds before she tries something, or it's hopeless. He took out a dagger and with one flick of his wrist, Angel II was down. It slit her throat, and silenced the screaming Max II for good. I had to remind myself that it was Max II, the one who had tried to kill us. It was hard, even to see her end.

The remaining second flock mobbed Sharva in the air. At this point, you could see on their faces the hopelessness of the situation. They knew they would not make it out alive. They just wanted to do some damage before they went. Total II was gnawing on Sharva's right arm, attempting to rip a muscle so that he could not use his sword. Gazzy II was attempting to hit his head, take him out from behind as Fang II had tried to do. Nudge II was trying to attract his metal swords to her. Iggy II, as blind as our Iggy, was just punching anything he could touch; he had not had the fighting experience of our Iggy.

I had to give it to Sharva-he was efficient. Four sword strokes, and the clones dropped. It angered me to no end to see their bodies fall to the floor, landing at odd angles. How many times had I seen that in my nightmares- the flock's bodies along with Talons? Too many. Sharva lazily drifted to the ground, landing a few feet from Max II. He took the dagger out of her throat, and cleaned it, along with his swords, on her wing.

He walked out without looking back.

The screen went black, and the word "Targets" appeared on the screen. Our pictures flashed up. Anyone could see that they were digitally remastered. We all looked evil. Well…Gazzy always looks that way, but we…usually…know what he's up to. The Itex logo flashed up on the screen, and then it was over.

I looked behind me to see a mixture of reactions. Ella was horrified. Her eyes were wide, with terror. She was curled up as close as she could be to…Iggy. Hmm. Iggy himself was flaming with anger. You could just tell. He was on my side. Good.

Gazzy was no better than Ella, only Dr. Martinez was comforting the poor little guy. Instead of terror, he looked confused. Was it right to show that to him? I can only imagine how he must feel, watching "himself" die. Dr. Martinez was obviously shocked, probably thinking about how she let him into her house. I had to give her credit, she was keeping a cool head for the others' sake.

Max was also on my side. Anger, betrayal…story of her life. The question was…would she want to kill him herself? Angel looked…grossed out, but didn't have the fear of the others. As I was wondering what this meant, I saw Nudge.

She did not have any fear. None at all. Determination shone in her eyes, as cold as steel. "That's his past," she sad with a cold voice. "His future will be different. He swore he would never hurt any of us."

"Empty promises," I spat. Why did she keep defending him? She saw our second selves die for crying out loud! What more was there to see? What more did I have to prove to her that he was going to kill us? "No one takes promises from an assassin. NEVER. It's just another way to kill you.

"His promise was sincere," Angel said calmly. "I heard it. It was when he first woke up from hitting his head. He was never going to hurt us."

Nudge pretty much exploded with words. "SEE?! Angel even HEARD him thinking it! Thank you Angel! He just wanted to try and fit in! I'm sorry about your brother and all, but Sharva HAS CHANGED! For the better! And we're NOT GOING TO LET HIM DIE!"

"WOAH! Hold it right there! Who says we're going after him?!" Max shouted. "We are staying right here. We are not going to get killed for an assassin's mistake! What if he's changed his mind about not killing us? What happens then? We're screwed. We're dead. We are going to hide out, and figure out what happens next; see if he's still after us."

"You can, but I won't," Nudge said stubbornly.

"Nudge is right. He shouldn't die. I'm with her," Angel said in her creepy voice she uses when she wants to make you do something.

"Oh yeah? And who's going to let you go off on your own? None of us! Don't even…" Max started to say. I saw Nudge and Angel stand up. Obviously, Angel's mind thing was not working on Max, so Angel knocked Max unconscious instead. I started to get up when I saw Nudge coming for me. "Sorry," she said coldly, and everything went black.

_**Nudge's POV**_

Watching that video…chilled me to my very soul. But Fang is wrong. Sharva has changed! He just thinks me too immature to handle this. I have news for him. I've grown up. A lot. I'm not the little kid Nudge he grew up with. I love Sharva. I know that, without the things coming to the house, we could have fallen into as true a love as between Max and Fang, maybe even more. And now…Fang wants to let my Romeo die. Well, this Juliet will not stand by and let it happen. I'm going to find him and bring him home, whether that home is with the rest of the flock or not.

Thankfully, I won't have to do this alone. Angel is with me. She will help me. Why? I don't know. I hated taking down Max and Fang. They were our leaders since…forever. It was hard. But it had to be done. Before the rest of the flock could react to what we had done, I had grabbed Sharva's laptop, and Angel and I had flown off to a safe place to figure out what we would do next. Right now, we were flying over a small lake when we heard wingbeats behind us. I flipped around. Angel had already made a wide arc in the air to see the newcomer. Shit. If this were Max or Fang, we were done. The figure came closer, and I saw it for the first time. Gazzy.

"What are you doing here?" I said angrily. "You hate him as much as anyone else! Are you here to just bring us back?"

"I'm not letting my sister go by herself," he said looking me in the eye. "And he was really nice to me. It's just too hard to believe that he's bad. Yeah, I'm scared, but I've been more scared. And I'm not letting Angel go by herself," he repeated.

Angel flew toward him and hugged him. "Thanks," she whispered.

We landed a few miles later. I took out the laptop, hoping to find where he might be. It was almost too simple. Under the icon Missions, I clicked Locations. There was the canyon house, Dr. Martinez's place, and Headquarters. The address for that was in the Ural Mountains. Europe. Yay.

"Well, we're going to Europe again," I said. I felt sort of bad that we left Max and Fang worried about us, so I found the camera on the laptop, and typed in Fang's e-mail. I started to webcam.

"Hey guys, we're safe, but we won't tell you where. I've got Angel and Gazzy with me, and we'll contact you once in a while. DON'T COME AFTER US. That's it. Bye!"

That's all they needed to know. Tomorrow, we would figure out a way to get across the ocean.

And I would see Sharva again.


	11. Chapter 11

**All right. It's not quite writer's block, but it's the case of knowing what happens without the write words to say it in. So, since this chapter took over a month to write, I'm REALLY sorry. Anyway, here it is!**

_**Sharva's POV**_

I have no idea when I started waking up. But when I did, it hit me. I was tied up once again. Shit. Only this time, instead of a stupid little chair, I was tied between two metal poles anchored to the floor. As I woke up even more, I realized I could not open my right eye, and my chest felt like it was on fire. I could taste metallic blood on my tongue. I groaned and looked around with my left eye.

I was back at Itex. I was in what looked like my training arena, but the room was not how I remembered it. Before I could figure it out, the Director came in. "Sharva, Sharva," he said, shaking his head. " You almost had it! Hell, you were two seconds away from completing the mission! But no. You didn't. Another of Itex's failures."

"You could say that," I said, only it came out as a cross between a growl and a whisper. Ouch. "But it all depends on what you consider a failure. I'm still breathing aren't I?" He was walking around me, and my back was too him as I finished talking. I felt a stinging slash rip down my back. I roared in pain as I tried to whip around to face my attacker. The Director moved in front of me, bull whip in hand. "We can change that."

"I'd like to see you try."

The whip came down again, across my right arm this time. "You are a failure because you did not follow orders. We gave you free will Sharva, and you chose to throw it away. And for what? Love? Yes, we know about Nudge. And I ask, what is it worth? What is love worth to you? Nothing. It is worth nothing. You were going to kill her. If you had, it would have been better for you."

Nudge! I had totally forgotten. What kind of guy forgets his reason for being? My reason for being here right now? God, I hope she was all right. Hopefully she will stay safe. Another slash. "Ow." It didn't hurt anymore. I glared at the director as the whip withdrew from my chest. "Fortunately, you do have one more purpose," he said. "Meet your last opponent, Leturn **(A/N: Leh-turn) **the Predator."

She came in through a door opposite where I was standing. She had straight, dark red hair. Very contrasting to her striking bright green eyes. She glanced at me in contempt, as if I were an unappealing decoration on an otherwise blank wall. "That's it?" she asked the Director. He just nodded.

Somehow I was released from the metal poles, and fell to the ground. I regained my footing, but almost fell down again. I swayed and grabbed a pole for support. Blood loss is a real bitch. The director frowned. "This won't do," he said, and stabbed me in the arm with a syringe before I could pull away. I started to protest, but whatever was in the syringe knocked me to the ground. I couldn't move. Was she going to kill me this way? Fucking coward.

Amazingly, she didn't. I was able to move after a few seconds. My wounds were nonexistent, and I was no longer dizzy. Yeah. If these scientists weren't such idiots and spent their time on more productive things, the world would be a way better place. I got up warily. "You get your pick of weapons. On the buzzer, fight." The director left, probably to go watch the fight in another room, behind safe walls. Smart man.

There was a rack of weapons on the wall behind me. Ropes, whips, nets, rifles, maces, bow/arrow sets, daggers, and swords were all up for grabs. I immediately grabbed a _jian_ and a _Claymore_, immediately searching for any flaws. Not finding any, I turned to see what Leturn had chosen. Nothing. This would be easier than I thought. I took a good look at what would soon be the battleground. It was pretty large, I realized, about the size of an indoor football field, minus the seats. Large enough where the builders did not bother to hide the ductwork around the edges. Pretty plain except for the weapon rack and the two steel poles. I then took a look at my opponent.

She, too, was studying me. That was predictable. She herself was tall by human standards, but shorter than me. That could be used against me, but it was unlikely. She stood leaning back; easy to tip over. I walked toward the center of the arena, watching her the whole time. Her eyes never left me, sizing up my weaknesses and strengths. She, too, walked into the center. She moved with a fluid grace, balancing on the balls of her feet. Agile. Quick to turn. Experienced fighter. Finally, a worthy opponent. We faced off, waiting for the bell that would start the bloodbath.

"So," I said conversationally, "Leturn. What kind of name is that? Does it mean looser? Or roadkill? 'Cause that's what's going to happen" What can I say? I don't do intimidation very well. This was my best.

She gave a feral smile, more of a baring of teeth in anticipation of a kill. "It means Death," she said in a taunting voice as the signal blew.

I immediately spiraled into the air. How many times had I started a fight like this? It was so familiar. What I did not expect was for Leturn to shoot into the air alongside me, bloodred feathers reaching toward me, intending to lacerate with the barbs on every single fiber. I spun toward the right to avoid getting cut up. So, she was a different breed of Hunter. How lame. I swirled around, brought the _jian_ back to swing at her pursuing form, and then there was no sword. It was gone two fast for me to comprehend. What the hell? I saw a flash down on the ground, and saw the blade. Just the blade. I still held the hilt. It was more of a dagger with a really big handle now. Leturn hovered a few feet away, flexing the largest set of claws I have ever seen on a hunter. "Not so easy?" she said in her taunting voice.

Red clouded my vision. No one has _ever_ disarmed me before. No one that has lived. I roared and flew directly at her, swinging the _Claymore_ down to server her arm. But the bitch was fast. She glided underneath me, and I totally missed. I somersaulted and dove down. Swords would obviously not work today. I grabbed a rifle, a sniper that I usually worked with. I shot back into the air, whipping around to face my opponent, and met my end.

A colossal beast was before me. Scales, horns, leathery wings, claws as long as my arm, staring at me with the same green eyes. Dragon. An evil grin, then flame. I barely had enough time to get out of the way. Such little time. I had dropped the rifle. Shit. What kills dragons? Before I could make my next move, Leturn had charged toward me, swinging her clawed hand. This time, I could not move out of the way. She shredded through my chest, ripping it wide open, tearing a lung. I screamed, but that did not last long. My wings suddenly refused to work. They weighed me down like a stone. I made the plunge to the floor, the hard, flat concrete surface rushing up to meet me. I could not scream anymore, could not find my voice.

My wings hit first, crumpling underneath my weight, fracturing. The rest of me hit, but it was an otherworldly experience. I barely felt it. I felt like I could just float out of my body and watch. Leturn landed and changed back to human form. She looked at me for a bit. She was starting to fuzz out. I couldn't keep my focus on her. Almost as an afterthought, her arm changed back into the dragon's arm, and reached down to lift up my chin. She looked thoughtful. I could barely see her though, every blink brought a wave of darkness. She frowned, reared back her hand, and slit open my face.

Darkness took over.

**I had writer's block really bad. Sorry! I am not abandoning this story, but I need ideas. I sort of have an idea where this is going, but ideas would help. REVIEW!!!!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ugh. I hate writer's block. If this chapter seems a bit crappy, I was in a rut and could not climb out of it.**

_**Nudge's POV**_

Good God! How can Max stand it?! Watching all of us at one time, I mean. The morning after we left, we flew to Austin, Texas. I had planned to board a plane to get to Europe. It was _waaay_ to long of a flight. But, once we got within city limits, things started.

"NUDGE! We NEED to go there!" Angel shrieked. I looked at the billboard she was pointing at. "There" was Build – A – Bear Workshop. "No."

"Why go there, when we could stop here?" Gazzy announced. Sheppard Air Force Base. "NO!"

"Buy why?" they whined.

"'Cause if you don't stop this whining, you can go back to Max and Fang." They shut up after that. We landed just outside the airport, and, thanks to Angel, got first class seats on a flight to Munich, Germany. We still had a lot of flying to go, but I wanted to get there quickly. Who knows what was happening to him? I couldn't let myself think any further into that thought, or I would just break. We were in a restaurant when I took out the laptop again and sent another message to Max and Fang.

"Hi guys," I said into the camera. "We're fine … in Germany." I barely got that phrase out when another screen popped up, showing Max's face. She was worried.

"Germany?" she said. "Okay, just stay there. We'll come to get you."

"I don't want you to!" I practically shouted. "I need to get Sharva back!"

"Nudge," Max said, trying to stay calm, but I could see the panic. "It's a suicide mission. Suicide! Are you willing to get Angel and Gazzy killed, let alone yourself?!" She was in full panic mode now. I knew what I had to say, but saying it would be hard.

"And when we were with you, under your leadership? Were we any safer? You led us into some bad situations, Max, and we thought we weren't going to come out alive. I've made my choice. Angel and Gazzy have made theirs. Go on, come to Germany. Whatever will happen will have happened. We're going to be fine." That shut her up. I logged off before she could say another word. We left the restaurant and went to a hotel for the night. After the younger two fell asleep, I sat on the edge of my bed and cried.

_**Max's POV**_

She's actually going to do this. She's going to get herself killed. Was I really that bad of a leader? I don't know. I did just about get everybody killed, a lot. We had to go get her before she failed.

Fang came up behind me. He's been quiet ever since Nudge left, a return to his normal. And that was what made me mad. "So NOW you're quiet again!" I snapped. "You wouldn't say a word when Sharva was WITH us, but when he's taken you suddenly become talkative! What's the matter with you Fang? You aren't the same guy I usually know." I had tears in my eyes. I'm so confused.

Fang gently led me to my bed, and we sat down. He looked me in the eyes, and said, "I was afraid, scared. Seeing … it… brought back my past, what I had tried to forget. I was quiet because I was in shock. It couldn't happen again. I started talking because I was relieved, relieved that he was gone."

"And what about now? Are you scared for the rest of the flock, for our other half? What about now Fang? I need to depend on you." Until I said it, I had not realized that Fang took up half of my heart, the flock, the other. And I wasn't sure whether I was going to loose part of the flock half. I was starting to cry a bit. I tried to wipe the tears away, but Fang got to it first. His long fingers brushed them away from my eyes, then pulled me into a close embrace. I hugged back.

"You can trust me," he murmured. We stayed like that for a bit more when we heard hurried footsteps in the hall. Iggy. "Come on you two! Quit the hugging! Yeah, I know what you're doing! I'm blind but not stupid. We need to GO! NOW!"

He was right. We needed to get to Germany as quickly as possible.

Ella and Mom were coming with us as far as the airport in Munich. They wanted to be around in case things went bad. We had just started flying when the laptop started making noise. Fang had left it on just in case Nudge responded to our plea to stop. We landed on a rocky hillside and cracked open the laptop.

_**Nudge's POV**_

After flying in the mountains for hours, we finally found Itex. It looked like all the other labs we had been in: a tall, warehouse-like building perched in the middle of nowhere. No security either. How stupid of them. This would be easy. I had to tell Max and Fang, just to rub it in. Angel was currently checking the minds inside; attempting to locate Sharva. Gazzy was fiddling around with bits of wire and things. I almost didn't want to know what sort of bomb he was making. Gazzy came over to watch me take out the laptop. "Can I talk to Iggy?" he pleaded. "I really want to say hi." He was missing Iggy sooo much. "Sure," I said as I logged onto the internet. Gazzy sat in front of the screen expectantly. Not too long after, Max came on screen. "Hi!" Gazzy said cheerfully. "Can I talk to Iggy?" Max looked surprised, but agreed. I walked toward Angel to give them some privacy. "Any sign of him?" She shook her head. "I can't get a read on anyone. I can feel their minds, but I can't read them. It's really frustrating." She looked up at me worriedly. "It's okay," I said. "They probably have something surrounding the building that prevents you from getting a reading." She looked a little better. Gazzy came over and handed me the laptop. He looked better now that he had talked to Iggy. "Max wants you," he said.

"Are you sure you want to do this? If you don't get it right …" she didn't need to say anymore. "Yeah, I'm sure," I said, a catch in my throat. "Sharva's my Fang. I can't loose him Max. I just can't." She studied me for a bit, then, "I can accept that. All I can say is good luck." It finally hit me what I was going to do. I was going to run into Itex myself, me being the leader, and responsible for two lives besides my own. It scared me to death. I couldn't get cold feet now though. "Hey Max, if we brought the webcam in with us, could you help me?" I asked, hopefully nonchalantly. She looked as if she knew what I was feeling. She probably did. "Sure Nudge," she replied, then, "or do you want to wait for the rest of us to show up?"

"Nah, I'll be fine." I hope.

We got into the air ducts. It wasn't too hard. We just had to land on the top of the building and break open the vent. We crawled through the vents, just trying to find a way into any room. We came to an opening a little way into the ducts. I peeked through. Nothing. Just a small room with a counter, coffeepot, and refrigerator. Break room. We kept going.

After what seemed forever, the duct got larger. I looked through a vent to see a stark white floor stained with red. I didn't know what it was, until Gazzy choked out, "It's him." I looked closer.

The red was blood. In the center lay Sharva, but how Gazzy could tell was beyond me. Black wings crumpled, he lay dying on the floor. I didn't realize I was screaming until Angel stuffed her fist in my mouth. She looked me in the eyes, and said very slowly. "You're going to be quiet and fall asleep now." So I did.

***

I woke up to find myself in a cave. Memories came back in a flash. Oh God. They didn't leave him there, did they? I flipped around, looking around the cave quickly. They wouldn't leave him …

They hadn't. The flock was sitting around an unmoving figure on the floor of the cave. I ran over, but before I could do anything, Max hurriedly said, "He's alive."

No words can describe the relief I felt, that turned immediately into horror once I saw Sharva fully for the first time. His chest was missing, as was part of his face. "Oh my God," I whispered. How could he be alive? There was blood everywhere. Max came over and repeated, "He's alive. Iggy developed a new power. He helped me pick up Sharva in the lab and some of the major wounds healed a bit. Just a little bit," she said, looking at my confused expression. "Just enough to prevent…" She didn't need to say it. Death. "Mom's coming. He should be fine … for now."

For now.

**I really did not like how this chapter turned out. Once this story is over, I might redo a lot of it. I'm still getting a feeling for writing, so this is sort of my trial/error story. PLEASE REVIEW!! I had 35 people on this story last I checked, and NOT ONE REVIEWED! That's really degrading for an author! And thanks for the people that do review. I really appreciate it. **


	13. Chapter 13

**There is really no excuse for not uploading much except for incessant writer's block and not enough time to write.**

_**Fang's POV**_

It just killed me to go after… it again. We had been flying in Nudge's general direction when the first images of Itex's interior came across the laptop's screen. We hovered in the air as we watched. Metal ductwork. Break room. More metal. Blood. When I realized who it was, I'm not ashamed to say I was glad. "God," Max whispered, "What did they do to him?"

When we got there 15 minutes later, finding Nudge passed out and Angel and Gazzy freaked out, my mood didn't change. It wasn't until I stood next to the blood mass on the floor that I felt anything else. I realized he was still alive, but just barely. His breath was coming in short, painful, quieting gasps. I could hear his heartbeat coming erratically, but slowing down.

Of all the cruel things in this world, one of the worst is being left alive when it is almost certain death. Even Sharva did not deserve that. Even he himself did not do that to his victims. I, as a witness, know. Iggy even looked scared. I realized he could see everything; the floor was stark white. "Sick bastards," he whispered. He knelt on the floor and ran his long, sensitive fingers over one of the worst part: the torn flesh of a punctured lung. Iggy's face went blank and a spasm shuddered through him as he probed the hole, an invisible current kept his hand in place. I watched in horrid fascination as the muscles began to knit together slowly, closing wound. Almost immediately, Sharva's breathing got a little better, but was still hindered by the other lung.

Iggy's hand eventually ripped away. "What the hell was that?" He roared, breathing heavily. Angel figured it out first. "You have a new power." He turned away, still shaking from the shock. "At least it's a good one," he joked weakly. "Can you do any more?" Gazzy asked.

"I don't think so, not right now at least," he said.

"Let's get out of here then." Max. She was looking around, head going a mile a minute, long hair swishing back and forth. "They're taping us." She pointed at cameras placed strategically around the room. Iggy started to pick up Nudge as Max and I began to carefully haul Sharva to his feet. Meanwhile, Gazzy grabbed the laptop and flew up to one of the cameras. He hooked something up to the laptop, then came spiraling back down. "The cameras are dead, and I got footage of the past few days erased. That doesn't help if people are watching it live though. They just can't rewatch it."

"Thanks Gazzy," Max grunted as we hoisted Sharva into the air. We carefully dragged him back through the ducts, on edge the whole time. Nothing was coming after us; not a good sign. We eventually got out of the claustrophobic closeness of the ducts into the sunlight. Gazzy and Angel scouted ahead and found yet another cave for us to take refuge in. We really need to look for other places. I went in to scout for enemies and found only a sandy floor, tall ceiling, and a small trickle of water down the side of the wall collecting in a pool. The water tasted sandy, but not poisonous.

After we laid Sharva on the floor near the pool, I made my escape. Muttering something about keeping watch to Max, I shot out of the mouth of the cave and sat on the top ridge. I didn't need the pity party inside. Taking him from Itex had been the extent of my wanting to help him. If I had my way, we would have put him out of his misery. The big question: why did I not want to? Sure, I still hated him, but not to the point of death anymore. Maybe it's 'cause he's on his way out anyway. It's so confusing. I'm starting to have appreciation for how Max must feel.

A few minutes later, Iggy joined me.

"Nudge is up."

"Great," I grunted, "here come the waterworks."

He was silent for a moment, then "He can't still be that bad." I snorted. "No, really. I understand what he's done; to you and what he would have done to us, but I think he's changed."

"How so?" I asked skeptically.

"For one, when he was at the house, you couldn't tell he was an assassin. He tried to fit in. You seemed to be the only one who didn't notice."

"That just means he has good training; trying to gain our trust. I did notice, but saw through the act."

"He saved our lives." Iggy turned to look at me with sightless blue eyes. "He bought us time to get out of the house when they came for him. If we had been there without his warning… we would have been dead."

I didn't have another argument, and Iggy knew it.

"I'm going to go see what I can do for him, see what this power can do until Dr. Martinez gets here."

He left me alone, with some new thoughts to figure out.

**Sort of short, but oh well. I'm still working on it. Next chapter will have Iggy's POV, and maybe some Iggy/Ella. Again, more apologies for not updating. Please review!**


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